Visitors and Tea
by Jetainia
Summary: There is an impossible land in a bubble. The resident gets a visitor.


_MC4A  
_Fill: 1  
Representations: Harry Potter; The Doctor; Gallifrey; Friendship  
Bonus Challenges: Where Angels Fear; Second Verse (Most Human Bean; Under the Bridge; Seven Gates; Mermaid; Rock of Ages; Unwanted Advice)  
Prompt: 5E (Gift)  
Note: Gallifrey's still around and doing whatever it does. I'm ignoring the fact that Gallifrey is in another dimension via painting and that the High Council and the Doctor don't exactly get along. They still don't get along here, but they pretend to. Kind of.  
Warning: Some suicidal terminology

* * *

"You shouldn't be here."

The visitor ignored the words and kept walking up the narrow path to the small hut. They were on top of a snow covered mountain that hovered above the ground below. It shouldn't exist and yet it did. The view across was one that defied all expectations and beliefs. Like everything on the mountain; it shouldn't exist, but it did. At any moment, depending on the emotions of the man living there, the whole mountain and landscape could rupture and explode. It was not a safe place for visitors.

"I am here though, how about a nice cup of tea for a guest?"

With glaring eyes and a long-suffering sigh, the original speaker rose up from where he had sitting with his legs dangling over the tall drop. He knew the visitor well and also knew that the visitor wouldn't leave. Apparently, the visitor though that it was his duty to visit every so often and check in. _Company_, he would say, _is always important. Especially to those with long lives._

The two men made their way silently into the hut. Inside was quite different from outside. Larger, warmer, neater. Alive. The kettle was already boiling away and the visitor stroked his hand down the doorframe.

"Hello lovely."

Harry snorted softly. "Are you my guest or my TARDIS'?"

The Doctor grinned at him. "Both, of course!"

"Right." Harry grabbed two mugs from a shelf and plopped tea bags in them. "Nice face, by the way."

"Shame it's not ginger though," the Doctor mourned, running a hand through his hair. His current face was one containing a sharp chin and jawline with floppy brown hair perched atop his head.

"I could make it ginger." He made the offer every time the Doctor complained about never having red hair.

And every time, the Doctor refused. "I don't want to put you through that."

"You're the only one."

"I know."

The kettle whistled and the water poured. With cups of tea, the two men moved over to the chairs facing the large window showing the landscape outside. They sat in silence, sipping the drinks and soaking in the friendship they only shared with each other. For Harry, the Doctor was the only constant visitor he got. For the Doctor, Harry was the only friend who stuck around and hadn't tried to kill him at some point.

Eventually the cups ran dry and the visit was over. Harry smiled wryly at the Doctor as he put his coat on and prepared to leave. "Going to tell the High Council that I'm still around and haven't yet thrown myself off the cliff enough times to stop regenerating?"

"Something like that. I'll see you again, Harry."

Knowing the other man wanted assurance that he'd still be here, Harry nodded. "And I'll see you."

With that, the Doctor swept out of the TARDIS door and left Harry and his Type-40 Time Capsule alone again. The TARDIS sent a wave of comfort to Harry and he sighed. Placing the empty cups in the sink, he wandered outside again to resume his watch over the snowy green and red landscape.

Up on the mountain, separated from the rest of the small world, the snow fell and remained. There was no divide up there as there was below. Below, there were patches of snow drifts building as fires raged next to them. Strong green forests rose up amongst the varying climates, ignoring the fire, snow, and rain as they grew.

It was a world created to store the man who lived there. It did not exist in normal reality, only as a bubble that required a key to enter and exit. Perhaps one day, when the landscape showed a united front instead of the many different things it did now, it would be allowed to rejoin the universe it had been split from.

As Harry stared sightlessly over the conflicted forest, he sighed again. This was him and it was just as likely to change now as it was five hundred years ago. Still, at least he had tea, his TARDIS, and the occasional visitor. That was the High Council of Gallifrey's gift to him and the universe; a place where he could do no harm with his tumultuous emotions and unwanted power.


End file.
